Supreme Court of Canada denies appeal bid by Surrey Six police agents

Kim Bolan, VANCOUVER SUN12.12.2013

The Supreme Court of Canada has dismissed an appeal application by two men known as Person X and Person Y, who had been expected to the key Crown witnesses in the Surrey Six murder case.THE CANADIAN PRESS
/ Sean Kilpatrick

A pedestrian walks past the Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa, on Oct. 18, 2013.THE CANADIAN PRESS
/ Sean Kilpatrick

Two men who admitted their roles in the 2007 Surrey Six murders and later cooperated with police have lost their bid to appeal a publication ban ruling to the Supreme Court of Canada.

The men, who can only be identified as Person X and Person Y, had applied to Canada’s highest court for leave to appeal a ruling by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Catherine Wedge imposing a partial ban if they were to testify at the trial of Cody Haevischer, Matthew Johnston and Michael Le. (Le has since pleaded guilty to conspiracy.)

Their lawyers had wanted a more sweeping ban, arguing that because they’re serving life sentences for murder, other inmates would perceive them as “rats” if they learned they were cooperating and their lives would be at risk.

But on Thursday, Canada’s highest court rejected the appeal application and unsealed details of the case. As is its common practice, the SCC didn’t provide reasons for its ruling.

The SCC decision allows publication for the first time an edited version of the June ruling by Wedge, which had been under an interim ban.

In it, Wedge accepted arguments by a lawyer for the Vancouver Sun and other media outlets, who argued that the sweeping ban being sought would impact the open court principle and the media’s ability to cover an important criminal case.

“There can be little doubt that the ban proposed by the Crown would have been highly intrusive of the open court principle in the present case,” Wedge said.

“X and Y are central to the Crown’s case against the accused, and most of the narrative emanates from their roles in the offences… Y is a former RS member and co-conspirator in the death of one of the victims, Cory Lal.

“He also acted as a police agent and, in that capacity, obtained admissions from two of the accused. X acknowledges participating in the activities of the RS, the planning of Mr. Lal’s murder, and the actual killing of three of the victims. Both men entered into immunity agreements with the Crown in exchange for their cooperation in the investigation and their testimony for the prosecution in the trial.”

Wedge summarized the Crown’s theory – much of which has already come out at the trial since it started Sept. 30.

But Wedge provided more details of the role of Person X, including that admitted to shooting three of the Surrey Six victims while claiming Haevischer shot the other three.

“On October 19, 2007, Mr. Johnston, Mr. Haevischer and X entered Suite 1505 of the Balmoral Towers apartment in Surrey. The latter two men both had handguns. The four people inside the suite, which included Mr. Lal, were ordered to the floor at gunpoint,” Wedge said.

“An associate of Mr. Lal’s subsequently arrived at the apartment and was also ordered to the floor. Mr. Johnston went into the hallway to summon and hold the elevator. He returned a short time later with a young man from a neighbouring suite who was also then ordered to the floor at gunpoint. Mr. Haevischer and X each shot and killed three victims.”

Person X attended a meeting with accused Jamie Bacon at a Coquitlam gym that morning, the ruling said. He also met with Le and Person Y at a restaurant before the murders.

Person Y is scheduled to be a witness in early 2014. Person X is no longer expected to testify, the trial heard just this week.

Wedge agreed with the Crown and lawyers for X and Y that their safety could be at risk inside prison if their identities and cooperation were widely known.

But she said “there are other protective measures short of the sweeping ban the Crown proposes that will address, to a significant extent, the risk X and Y face as cooperating Crown witnesses.”

She imposed a ban on their names, as well as the use of their photographs and images, along with any descriptions of them.

Wedge said the more sweeping ban sought “would have amounted to a prohibition against reporting on the narrative of the case in a comprehensive and understandable way.”

“It would have rendered it effectively impossible for the media respondents to provide balanced and informed coverage of the trial, and, by extension, would have undermined the right of the public to know about the evidence and issues in the trial and to understand its eventual result.”

She said the more limited ban allows the media “to fully report on the narrative of the trial.”

“With only minimal restrictions, they are able to report on all aspects of the criminal histories of X and Y and every aspect of their involvement in the Surrey Six murders,” Wedge said.

“They are able to report on the credibility of both witnesses and the extent to which they were cross-examined. They are also able to report on all aspects of the evidence of the other witnesses at trial as it relates to X and Y.”

Supreme Court of Canada denies appeal bid by Surrey Six police agents

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